Throughout the past couple of weeks Katrina would show up with Cricket at the school house and her and Ichabod would exchange a few words and slowly become more and more interested in one another. One Sunday at church the two families decided to inform Mr. Crane that Katrina and Brom were made for each other. Ichabod is hurt and Katrina tries to discretely tell him that that's not the case, but everyone was standing around.
So the next afternoon when Katrina was waiting for Cricket to get out of school, Ichabod is polite to her, but obviously distant. She asks to walk with him. He obliges, because of course he couldn't say no to her. Along the walk they both open up to each other a little. Katrina never tells Ichabod that she doesn't want to marry Brom, but she does say that she wishes she could get away from this life. He tells of his awful childhood and this is basically the point of no return for the two of them. They both liked each other a lot and both were starting to fall for one another.
~
"Mr. Crane!" Katrina yelled from across the party. She hurriedly walked over to him, dodging dancers as she went.
The Van Tassel harvest party was an event that everyone looked forward to. Pumpkins were set out everywhere and pie of every flavor was sitting on a table. Everyone manages to bring at least a little something for everyone to eat, but most of the food is provided by the Van Tassel family. People dance, drink, and socialize, and once the party is over everyone stays at the Van Tassel house for the night.
"Hello Katrina. I mean Ms. Van Tassel. How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you. Would you like to dance?" Katrina asked as the music ended.
"I'm not a very good dancer, you see-"
Katrina cuts him off and grabs his hand to drag him onto the dance floor as another song begins. "I'm sure you aren't that bad."
Sure enough, he was the worst dance partner that Katrina had ever had and she had danced with Pastor Quiggins when he was drunk. But his dancing skills didn't matter to Katrina. In fact, seeing him try to dance his best for her was sweet and funny because he would mess up terribly.
Somehow by the end of the dance Katrina ended up dancing with Brom and Ichabod was dancing with Mary Dervish, Timothy's mom. Katrina tried to get away from Brom, but he placed an arm around her waist and held her tightly against him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Katrina's father, Baltus, announced. "I would like to thank you all for coming tonight and I hope you all enjoy the party."
Sophia, Katrina's mother, took over. "As you all know each year there is a harvest party king and queen." Baltus brought out the straw crowns. "This year we'd like to award Brom Bones as King and our very own Katrina Van Tassel as queen." The crowd cheered as they placed the crowns on their heads and soon the cheer turned into a chant for the two to kiss. Katrina was desperately trying to look for Ichabod, but Brom turned her around and planted a big kiss on her lips. Katrina was frozen in shock. She couldn't believe that Brom was actually kissing her. He pulled away and the crowd roared. The music started back and Katrina fled the party room and ran into the sitting room.
She grabbed the crown and hurled at the wall while letting out a frustrated scream. A few tears had already escaped her eyes and were running down her cheeks.
"That was unexpected."
Katrina whipped around and noticed that Ichabod was sitting down. She turned away from him and started wiping the tears from her eyes. She didn't want him to see her crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't...I didn't see you there."
